The Subway in Seoul

I have about a 40 minute commute on the subway each morning. I've learned some important things about this commute. First off, if the train is full don't get on it. There is a reason why people are very nicely standing in a line behind these pairs of feet. It's because the jammed packed train will come, some people will get on, but then the most remarkable event will occur. A completely empty train will pull up only minutes after the jammed packed one has left. If you are one of the first 6 people in line, there's a good chance you will get a seat. However, beware of the sections that are allotted for the elderly (see symbol above to the left of the feet). You will be shunned if you sit in this section, even if there are not elderly people on the train.

If Only We Could Rescue Them All

There is a pet store right near our apartment. I walk by it everyday on my way to the subway. People love small toy dogs here and apparently they also like dying their dogs hair. The white dog with highlighter colored ears and the dress on really has no dignity. Also to note there's a restaurant a block away that serves dog. Yikes on that juxtaposition.

My Favorite Ice Cream Treat

Corn is pronounced ox-su-su in Korean. I love this ice cream treat. The outside shell is made of a wafer or cake cone that is molded to look like an ear of corn. Inside the ear of corn is a thin layer of chocolate that surrounds vanilla ice cream. The ice cream has little pieces of real corn in it as well as gummy corn pieces.

Foil Wrapped Tires

These foil wrapped tires made me think of chocolate bars and maybe even a reference to Charlie Bucket. I wish my snow tires had come with a shiny foil wrapping back in the states. Then again I guess I wouldn't have had the satisfaction of unwrapping them.

Street Food-A Focus on the Meal on a Stick

How I adore street food. In Korea the vendors even have little stools at their stalls so you can pull up and take a load off while enjoying a delicious dinner. Kwang and I decided we would eat eat street food one night so we settled on a stall that had all the good stuff and by good stuff I mean the more weird things on a stick the better. Above are think stripes of fish cake, accordion style on a stick. You are even encouraged to drink the broth as there are cups and a ladle hanging along side the stall. Kwang did this, I abstained.
This batter of fish cakes, vegetables, spices and flour is soon to be carefully molded into a sort of fish corndog on a stick. The vendor made them with the quick flick of a chop stick.
The vendor in action.
Final product revealed: on the left you have the batter wrapped around a piece of faux crab, on the right is the batter with a sesame leaf on top. All fish cake sticks are fried of course before serving. I had two of the sesame leaf ones and they were tasty!

Furniture Arcade

Kwang took me to an area of Seoul called the Furniture Arcade. Here street after street is lined with furniture stores. Some specialize in office furniture, others kitchen tables, we were interested in beds. The bed with settled on after thoroughly searching the strip was sold by a very friendly sales guy. He even made me sit on the bed and jump up and down to test the spring coils. A pretty hilarious sight to be seen. Just so you know a double mattress with wooden sleigh style frame costs $300, not a bad price at all.

Shopping Carts Are Not for Free

Kwang dragged me to EMart at 11:00pm one night last week because we had rented a car to move into our new apartment and it was a chance to purchase some of the bigger, non subway portable items. Yes, essentially EMart=Walmart. However, there is one slight difference. At EMart a cart will cost you 10 cents. Each cart is locked up and is released with just the deposit of a coin.